


Research

by notsafeforowls



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-07
Updated: 2020-03-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:34:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23053279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notsafeforowls/pseuds/notsafeforowls
Summary: Zari helps out.(Takes place after Mortal Khanbat.)
Relationships: Nate Heywood/Zari Tarazi
Comments: 1
Kudos: 36





	Research

Zari doesn’t go towards the library for any particular reason. She doesn’t really want to stay in Behrad’s room, especially now that Charlie’s back and they’ve broken out what Charlie’s calling a “prison special” which Zari’s sure is a combination of weed and hallucinogens. And she’d had more than enough than her fair share with that weird doughnut Behrad had given her. Ava’s not an option, because Zari knows exactly what’s going on in her and Sara’s room. Zari’s had reunion sex; she doesn’t want to overhear anyone else’s.

Which leads her to the library, where Nate is sitting on the floor, surrounded by books. Zari can’t even read all of the titles. Some are in different languages. Others are in such poor condition that half of the letters have been rubbed away to nothing. Zari lets her gaze drift away from the books to Nate himself, just in time to watch him stretch. It does interesting things to the muscles in his back. Very interesting things.

Zari sips her juice as Nate turns a little to look over his shoulder at her.

“Hey,” he says, smiling, unsurprised to see her here. Which is strange because Zari’s sure no one has ever expected her to be in a library. There have been a lot of popular posts whenever she’s been seen in one, “are you avoiding everyone else too?”

“I don’t need to see Charlie almost sitting on my brother’s lap, even if they do say it’s _platonic,_ ” Zari says as walks around Nate to take a seat at the desk. There are even more books on the desk. Platonic. Yeah, right. Sometimes Zari thinks that Behrad thinks she’s the younger sibling. Or that she’s an idiot. If that’s _platonic_ then Zari’s going to delete her Cat Chat the next time she goes back to 2044. “What are you doing, anyway? These look like fairytales.”

“Well, sort of. I told Charlie that I’d see if it looks like her sisters have been up to anything or if it looks like parts of the loom showed up anywhere obvious. Those are all the books on Greek mythology that I could find, including the ones I had to get from Mick’s quarters – he steals things, it’s fine – and some that came from my own. All of these ones,” Nate gestures to the ones around him, “are ones that Gideon says, and I quote, _may contain evidence of activity involve one or more Fates or may be the location of a piece of the Loom of Fate_. Do you want to help?”

“Me?” Zari looks at the piles of books. Where is she even supposed to start? “I have no idea how to do this. The last time anyone asked me to read anything for them, it was a contract.” And that children’s book about a girl and her dragon that Zari had written. “I was just looking through news articles before. This seems really difficult”

“It’s kind of the same thing. Just imagine that every chapter is a different newspaper.” Nate gets to his feet and grabs the closest book, opening it to a chapter marked with a neon pink bookmark. “You just look for anything significant, like someone dying when they really shouldn’t have, or someone living when they really shouldn’t have. Or just something really weird showing up where it shouldn’t have.”

“Like Heyworld?” It’s strange to remember it as a child while the ship is parked in 2020, concealed just outside Central City. Her reality is that she’s somehow in the same year that her life changed but also twenty-four years ahead of it. If Zari thinks about it too much, it’s going to give her a headache.

Nate laughs. “Don’t worry, if we were involved, those pink sheets tell you the details. I update them after every mission. Do you want to see your second entry?” He gestures to a book balanced precariously on the edge of the desk. “The other one’s just a note with a newspaper because she didn’t become a spree killer – Ava was a bit too disappointed about that – and nothing about the mission with Marie was really recorded, but this one’s a historical event, even without Genghis Khan.”

Zari picks up the book and carefully turns to the pages where she can see a sliver of pink just visible at the edge. It’s two sides of A4, covered in some weird thing she doesn’t recognise – probably to protect the book, especially if Nate puts these in the old ones as well – and it’s all about the mission. Zari can see her own name in it several times, but the part that catches her eye is when she gets to the sentence that mentions that she noticed the historical significance of the event.

It feels like she played a tiny part. It feels like she played a huge part.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“I’m great,” Zari blinks a few times. Maybe weird contradictions are just part of time travelling. Like how this weird ship somehow feels more like home than most of the places she’s lived since she was a kid when she’s only been here for a handful of days. “So, what, I just start with any of these books?”

“Yeah. Sorry, it’s not that interesting, but hopefully we’ll be able to make it easier when we eventually come up against them.”

Zari chooses her first book carefully. It’s got some nice illustrations on the front – some kind of representation of a Greek myth, she’s willing to bet – and the typeface is something raised and shimmery. As she opens it to the front page, she glances up at Nate, who’s curled over one of the books, scanning the pages as he turns them carefully but quickly. He catches her looking and gives her a little smile and nod of encouragement before he goes back to reading.

“I wouldn’t say it’s not interesting,” she says under her breath, glad that he doesn’t catch her saying _that_.


End file.
